The owner of Jack's Oyster House in downtown Albany, N.Y., counts himself among those looking forward to David Paterson's tenure as governor of New York.

Paterson and his wife, Michelle, are regular customers at Jack's, said Brad Rosenstein, the third-generation owner of the venerable restaurant on State Street down the hill from the Capitol.

"These two people are so gregarious," Rosenstein said. "They like to mingle with people, say hi, shake hands with the public. We think it's going to be good for the restaurant industry in Albany."

Paterson, the lieutenant governor, was sworn in at 1 p.m. before a packed crowd of legislators, lobbyists and invited guests in the Assembly chamber.

Gov. Eliot Spitzer resigned at noon following revelations last week he was implicated in a federal probe of a high-priced prostitution ring.

Jack's Oyster House has seen plenty of governors come and go since opening in 1913, each with their own style and taste for Albany after-hours.

Former Gov. George Pataki, for instance, who served from 1995 to 2006, was less visible around town toward the end of his three terms in office, Rosenstein said.

Spitzer, who became governor in January 2007, had not been seen as much as when he first took office, Rosenstein said.

Neither Pataki nor Spitzer lived in the governor's mansion in Albany. Paterson's plans are unclear. He and Michelle Paige Paterson own a house near Albany in Guilderland and in Harlem.

"I think when there's a new administration there's a tendency to want to celebrate and be out with the public and create that nice feeling," Rosenstein said. "I think the new governor is definitely more hospitable in that regard."

Jack's benefited from the swarm of news media that descended on the city when the scandal unfolded last week. Natalie Morales, a correspondent for NBC's "Today" show, was spotted in the restaurant.

One business suffered, however, when Spitzer cancelled his schedule of events in Albany on March 11, a day after the prostitution scandal story broke in The New York Times.

About 20 rooms that had been reserved at the Holiday Inn Express on Broadway were cancelled, said Kesha Legg, general manager.

"They said their meetings were cancelled because of the incident with Gov. Spitzer," Legg said.

As part of its internal record-keeping, hotel staff had to note the reason for the cancellations. "Prostitution scandal" was not one of the options on the form that's provided by corporate officials, Legg said. So they just stuck with a generic option: change in plans for travel.